Syracuse, N.Y. -- Adrian Autry was working out a few Virginia Tech players in a session following the 2009-10 season.

It was Autry's first official workout. Bill Courtney had just left Virginia Tech to become the head coach at Cornell and Autry had been promoted from director of basketball operations to assistant coach.

One of the players in the workout with Autry was Allan Chaney, a 6-foot-9 forward who had sat out the previous season after transferring from Florida to Virginia Tech.

The players and Autry had been going through drills for about 30 minutes when Chaney collapsed.

"He just drops,'' Autry, now an assistant coach at Syracuse University, said. "It was a scary moment. "He was making noises and his eyes were up in his head. Very scary.''

"He comes to before he leaves and he was looking at us, like, 'What happened? Why is everybody kind of around?'' Autry said. "Then he went to the hospital.''

Doctors would eventually diagnose Chaney with viral myocarditis, which is an inflammatory heart disease.

Chaney's basketball career appeared to be over. Virginia Tech medical officials would not clear him to play even after an internal defibrillator was placed into his chest.
Chaney graduated from Virginia Tech in 2012.

"He was just a great kid,'' Autry said. "He loved basketball.''

Chaney showed his love for basketball when he decided to make a comeback to the game. After graduating from Virginia Tech, Chaney enrolled at High Point University and joined the basketball team. Last season, Chaney averaged 14.5 points and a team-high 8.1 rebounds per game. He was named All-Big South second team. In addition, CBSsports.com named Chaney the 2013 Comeback Player of the Year.

High Point plays No. 2 ranked Syracuse at the Carrier Dome on Friday night. However, Chaney will not be suiting up for High Point against the Orange.

On Nov. 24, in a home game against Wofford, Chaney experienced another scare.

As the players lined up for a Wofford free throw, Chaney went down. Unlike the 2010 incident at Virginia Tech, Chaney never lost consciousness. He laid down on the court and motioned for the trainer.

His internal defibrillator had done its job, detecting an abnormality in his heart back and sending an electrical stimulus to his heart.

"He was awake,'' High Point guard Scott Cherry said. "His eyes were open. He was on his back. He said 'I'm OK, coach'.''

Chaney would be fine. He walked to the High Point locker room and later returned to the High Point bench before the end of the game. However, Chaney's basketball playing career was over. This time for good.

"It was tough on the kids,'' Cherry said. "For a period of time, they thought maybe he was coming back. I knew it a lot sooner than they did. We wanted to work through a few things. We finally told them. A lot of guys were upset.''

When High Point faces Syracuse on Friday, the Panthers will be playing their fifth game without Chaney, who was averaging 18.3 points and 9.8 rebounds in the team's first four games this season.

"We've still got a very good team,'' the High Point coach said. "I think we've got a chance to be one of the better teams in our league. But it's going to be tough to go on the road to Syracuse and Arkansas (where High Point plays on Dec. 28).''

In the days since Chaney's collapse in the Nov. 24 game against Wofford, Autry has thought a lot about Chaney and the risk he took.

"You look at why he tried to do and what he did do, most people would've shut it down,'' Autry said. "It speaks volumes for his passion for basketball. He was a basketball kid. He loved it. He loved it and wanted to be on the court.

"I was sad, but now I'm happy that he's still here,'' Autry added. "I think that's the only way he would have stopped playing basketball. For something like that to happen.''